Under solar heat, utilities put up a fight

Getty Images

Utilities are pushing back as they feel the pinch from the growing number of U.S. residents opting for leasing or buying rooftop solar-panel systems.

Recently, Colorado’s Xcel Energy Inc.
/quotes/zigman/264349/delayed/quotes/nls/xelXEL requested the state’s utility regulator permission to redefine its net energy metering credit to a “net metering incentive,” which the utility’s critics say would reduce payments the utility makes for excess power generation from rooftop solar systems. The utility serves 1.4 million electricity customers in the state and also provides power in other states.

In Hawaii, the state’s biggest utility has barred residents from connecting their solar systems to the grid.

Xcel credits 10.5 cents a kilowatt-hour to rooftop-solar homeowners who send their extra solar power back to the grid. But it found in a study rooftop-solar benefits are limited and worth about 4.6 cents a kilowatt-hour.

Xcel has said it wants to start a discussion about how to provide the most solar energy to as many customers as possible and in a way that’s fair to all customers.

As rooftop solar panels become cheaper and more common, utilities have argued they place an unfair burden on them and on non-solar customers when it comes to paying for the grid’s upkeep and upgrades. These two battles at the same time that Arizona utility regulators voted to charge a small monthly fee to customers of the state’s largest utility who use rooftop solar panels. The charge, estimated to average about $5 for a typical installation, will be effective Jan. 1.

So many residents are going for solar that circuits could be overburdened and prone to voltage spikes. The company told Bloomberg it needs more time to research and address the technical challenges of integrating solar to its grid.

“Widespread” adoption of renewable energy and energy efficiencies will place pressure on utilities’ business models around the world, UBS said in a note to clients last month. In the U.S., solar and wind, primarily, will pressure wholesale power prices.

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of
this material are governed by our
Subscriber Agreement
and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones
Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit